Karen Phillips, 49, of Chester, Pennsylvania, was found dead on August 27, 1992. Authorities treated her death as suspicious and, after an investigation involving interviews and forensic analysis, determined she had been murdered.

Multiple people were questioned during the inquiry, and evidence gathered by investigators led to charges, a trial, and a conviction. The defendant was found guilty of first-degree murder and was sentenced to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole.

The case drew attention for the brutality of the crime and for the multi-agency effort that produced the evidence used at trial.